


My Everything

by giantpanda



Series: Moments in Time [3]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, F/M, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25192765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantpanda/pseuds/giantpanda
Summary: A look into Claire and Neil's future.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Series: Moments in Time [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751104
Comments: 14
Kudos: 53





	My Everything

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place a few years after Conversations in the Dark.

As a doctor, Neil was used to working crazy hours. However, now that he was a father to a five-year-old and a three-year-old, he hated working nights. He and Claire had worked very hard to maintain structure for their girls while continuing to build their professional careers. It was a challenge that left them exhausted but blissfully happy. He had the family and love that he had always craved.

As he headed home from the hospital, he hoped that he would be able to get a few hours of sleep, but first was looking forward to spending some time with his girls. Cassandra, or Cassie as she preferred, was five years old and tended to be a little bossy. Natasha, their three-year-old, on the other hand, was willing to do whatever her sister wanted and hated fights. Thankfully, both seemed to have Claire’s natural compassion. He still enjoyed being the best surgeon, however, if any one ever asked him, his greatest accomplishment was his daughters.

He had missed their bed time routine the night before and while Cassie and Natasha understood, he still hated it. He and Claire worked hard on their schedules to make sure that one of them was always home at night. Thankfully the hospital had a daycare that they were able to use where they could check on the girls whenever they wanted. As he got ready to go in, he pushed away his exhaustion and prepared himself for their excitement as they ran to him to ask about his day.

He placed his stuff by the door, slipped off his shoes, and stood there waiting for the familiar sound of running feet. He waited a few minutes before going to investigate what his kids were doing. As he entered the living room, he found them with Claire at the coffee table working on some type of art project. Claire looked up and smiled at him.

“Daddy,” Cassie, said noticing him. “Go away.”

“What?” he asked confused. This was not their typical reaction to him coming home, especially not when he had been gone all night.

“Cassie,” Claire said.

“He’s going to ruin it.”

Claire whispered something he couldn’t hear to both girls and then came to where he stood. She wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her close, glad to see at least one of them still cared that he was home.

“They’re making you a surprise,” she said softly. “They don’t want you to see it until they’re done.” He leaned down to kiss her. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep while they work?”

“Daddy,” Cassie called. He looked over to where she was sitting with her sister. “Go to bed.”

“Go to bed,” Natasha echoed.

“Can I get a hug first?” he asked.

“No,” Cassie answered glaring at him. “Go to sleep.”

He bit his lip to keep from laughing. He had lost count of how many times he had seen an identical look on Claire’s face.

“So bossy,” he whispered in Claire’s ear.

She smiled as she kissed him. She went back to the table to work with the girls and he went into their bedroom. He took a quick shower and then laid down. His exhaustion caught up to him and he was quickly asleep.

He was awoken sometime later by two voices trying to whisper beside the bed. He kept his eyes closed to let them think he was still asleep. They were trying to decide the best way to wake him up. He was glad that they had woken him up with their talking because usually they would just jump on him. At least if he was already awake, he could prevent them from landing on his lower body. He fought back a smile as heard them climbing up Claire’s side of the bed, each telling the other to be careful. He opened his eyes right as they went to jump on him, catching them and tickling them. Their laughter pushed away any lingering exhaustion.

“Come see your present,” Cassie said, slightly out of breath from laughing.

“Now you want to spend time with me.”

The girls looked at each other and smiled before they both wrapped them arms around his neck to give him a big hug. He looked up and saw Claire in the doorway, a cup of coffee in her hand.

“Go get ready, we’ll be there in a minute,” she said.

Cassie and Natasha jumped off the bed and ran into the living room.

She walked over to him and handed him the coffee. “They wanted to check and see if you were awake. They promised me that they wouldn’t wake you up.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and reached up to caress his face. “How was your night?”

He took a sip of coffee. “Nothing too exciting, I would’ve much rather been here.” He leaned forward to press his lips against hers. “How was yours?”

“We watched a movie, the girls had some questions about when we have to work nights, which led to them making you a present.” She stood up. “You should go see what they did.”

“Glitter?” he asked with a frown.

Both girls loved arts and craft projects and tended to go overboard with glitter. Their last few projects had taken forever to clean up.

She took his coffee cup and took a sip. “Thankfully no. Somehow all the glitter we had disappeared.”

He laughed. “Good. I’m still finding glitter in my office from that last project.”

He got out of bed and wrapped his arm around her bringing her close. He was so grateful that he got to be with her and their girls. His family was better than he could’ve ever imagined. They went into the living room and found the girls sitting on the sofa with a stack of papers in their hands. He went to sit between them.

Natasha handed him the papers with a smile. 

“What’s this?” he asked, as he glanced down.

“We made you a book,” Cassie said. “So, when you have to work at night you can read it and not miss us.”

“I will always miss you when I’m not with you,” he said as he pulled them closer. “But this will make it easier.” He was always amazed by his beautiful daughters, and he knew that was all Claire. “Tell me about the pictures.”

While the girls loved to draw and do other art projects, Neil wasn’t always good at determining what they had made or drew. He had learned that it was better to ask them about their pictures than to try to guess what they made. Claire settled down beside them as the girls began to tell about what they had made. He felt as if his heart could burst as he listened to what they had drawn to keep him from feeling lonely when at the hospital without them.

As they got to the last picture, he could tell that it was a picture of their family. Cassie had labeled the pictures. He smiled when he noticed how much smaller they had drawn Claire than him. His eyes drifted to the bottom when he noticed two smaller drawings without labels.

Pointing to them, he asked, “Who is this?”

“Our baby sisters.”

He glanced quickly at Claire, in case this was their way of telling him she was pregnant. She shook her head at him. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed.

“Sisters?” Claire asked them.

“One for each of us.”

“You each already have a sister,” Claire said.

“Mommy,” Cassie said, “We each need a baby sister. Then we would all have three sisters.”

Claire looked to him to help her with this conversation.

Curious, he asked, “Just sisters, no brothers?”

“Ew, no boys,” the girls said together.

“Hey,” he said. “I’m a boy.”

Cassie shook her head, “No you’re not, you’re daddy.”

He laughed as he pulled the girls closer to him. “Thank you both for my present.”

He flipped back through all the pages and knew he would be taking it to his office when he went back to work. Cassie and Natasha jumped down from the sofa and went to their play room. He was glad that they got along so well. He reached for Claire and pulled her towards him. He wrapped his arm around her as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“What are you thinking about this wish for sisters?” she asked.

Caressing her arm, he answered honestly. “I don’t know. We had always talked about just having two.”

She nodded against him. “But those two are pretty amazing.”

“What else would you expect with us as their parents?”

She laughed. “Having another one might not be so bad. I don’t think I can go through it two more times.”

“There’s always the chance of twins,” he said with a smirk.

She sat up and smacked her hand against his chest. “Don’t even joke about that.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying that would give the girls want they want.”

Rolling her eyes at him she settled back against his him. He would love to add to their family, but it also worried him. Claire had not had the easiest pregnancies and he wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea for her to go through it again. Both girls had needed to be induced a few weeks early because of her dangerously high blood pressure. If they decided to have another child, he needed to be sure that she would be okay. Their family wouldn’t work if something happened to her.

“Something to think about,” she said softly. “We don’t need to decide now.”

She sat up and pushed against him, so he was laying on the sofa. She laid down on top of him and kissed him. He slid his hand on her shirt and drew her closer.

“Daddy,” Natasha yelled from the play room. “Come play with us.”

Claire rested her head against his chest, as he groaned. He loved his girls but sometimes he needed time with Claire. She pushed away from him so they could stand up.

“Go,” she said kissing him again. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He kissed her again as they called for him. As he headed to spend time with Cassie and Natasha, he thought about how perfect his life was. He had Claire, their daughters, and his career. He had everything he could have ever wanted. He worried about tempting the fates for more. For now, he was happier than he ever could’ve imagined.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been struggling some to write the past few days, so I hope you enjoy this. Thank you for reading! I greatly appreciate it!


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